Homeless Cat -- Now Spotacus' Legacy
On 18 Dec, a very large cat showed up at our house. It was late and cold, and he looked in the door and made it clear he wanted inside. Well, since we have two cats already and he was a stranger, we...
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And now the Saharan dust has arrived to clog up eyes, sinuses and pores. At least our house is tight enough to keep the dust out, mostly.
We have to use eye wash and nasal irrigation each evening. Visibility is down; the haze is noticeable. No rain in the forecast the rest of the month (not unusual, but with the heat, it's hurting us bad water-wise).
Gosh, you'd think it was summertime or something...
Czarny made it outside a whole five minutes this morning. He hid alternately under the south porch furniture before finally deciding it was just no fun out there.
We noticed a raccoon climbing down one of our arbor posts a few days ago. A couple nights later, it caught a bird and ate it under the window next to my recliner. Then we realized the baby barn swallows had fledged too soon, likely to escape the raccoon's attempts to get at the nest.
For a couple of days, I'd go out to the porch or into the grass, pick up a baby barn swallow, and set it up high. The older birds were still feeding the babies, even down on the porch, but I didn't want that danged raccoon getting more birds. By Saturday, the babies didn't even fuss when I picked them up; they simply clamped onto a finger, then stepped off onto the high area.
Yesterday, they were strong enough to stay up high, on the porch ceiling fan blades, the top of the bedroom door, or on several wind chimes. The older birds fussed at them, trying to get them flying and/or protecting them. At one point, all eight barn swallows were arrayed on one ceiling fan blade.
I'm cautiously optimistic that the babies will survive now.
As for the raccoon, it strolled across the deck and down the stairs about 11:30 this morning. It's not fat, but looks healthy. I'm hoping that the barn swallows will stay out of range and cause it to go looking for food elsewhere. I'd just rather not host a raccoon.
Meanwhile, the fox family still transits twice a day, but they no longer play on the deck. I put out a large dog bowl in the shade near where they transit, but I can't tell if anyone is using it. I'll keep adding water, though, in case some other small critter needs it.
Time to get back to editing BIL's book. Later, y'all.
We have to use eye wash and nasal irrigation each evening. Visibility is down; the haze is noticeable. No rain in the forecast the rest of the month (not unusual, but with the heat, it's hurting us bad water-wise).
Gosh, you'd think it was summertime or something...
Czarny made it outside a whole five minutes this morning. He hid alternately under the south porch furniture before finally deciding it was just no fun out there.
We noticed a raccoon climbing down one of our arbor posts a few days ago. A couple nights later, it caught a bird and ate it under the window next to my recliner. Then we realized the baby barn swallows had fledged too soon, likely to escape the raccoon's attempts to get at the nest.
For a couple of days, I'd go out to the porch or into the grass, pick up a baby barn swallow, and set it up high. The older birds were still feeding the babies, even down on the porch, but I didn't want that danged raccoon getting more birds. By Saturday, the babies didn't even fuss when I picked them up; they simply clamped onto a finger, then stepped off onto the high area.
Yesterday, they were strong enough to stay up high, on the porch ceiling fan blades, the top of the bedroom door, or on several wind chimes. The older birds fussed at them, trying to get them flying and/or protecting them. At one point, all eight barn swallows were arrayed on one ceiling fan blade.
I'm cautiously optimistic that the babies will survive now.
As for the raccoon, it strolled across the deck and down the stairs about 11:30 this morning. It's not fat, but looks healthy. I'm hoping that the barn swallows will stay out of range and cause it to go looking for food elsewhere. I'd just rather not host a raccoon.
Meanwhile, the fox family still transits twice a day, but they no longer play on the deck. I put out a large dog bowl in the shade near where they transit, but I can't tell if anyone is using it. I'll keep adding water, though, in case some other small critter needs it.
Time to get back to editing BIL's book. Later, y'all.
